Getting There
The Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York, is only 25 minutes from the hotel. (I used this airport for my recent trip and found it very convenient—no crowds!) It is served by most major airlines. Or you can fly into one of the New York City area airports: John F. Kennedy International (click on "Getting To and From JFK," then on "Transportation Options," then "JFK to Suburbs," and scroll down to "Connecticut"), LaGuardia (click on "Getting To and From LGA," then on "Transportation Options," then "LGA to Suburbs," and scroll down to "Connecticut"), or Newark, New Jersey (click on "Getting To and From EWR," then on "Transportation Options," then "EWR to Suburbs," and scroll down to "Connecticut"), which are 40-60 minutes away. I am working on a special rate for transportation from the airports and will announce details soon. There is a complimentary hotel shuttle to the nearby train station in Stamford, for transportation directly to and from beautiful Grand Central Station (40 minutes). Enterprise Car Rental has an office in the lobby of the hotel.
Transportation to the hotel from area airports
US Limo is headquartered on our Sheraton Hotel grounds. They offer private Luxury Limos and Town Cars from all area airports to the hotel, and are also available for transportation into NYC. Advance reservations required. Call 1-800-637-3373 and be sure to ask for the special Gene Convention rate. Their Town Cars hold up to 3 people, depending on the amount of luggage. Prices per car to/from the Sheraton and each airport are as follows (gratuity, tolls, etc, additional):
White Plains - $65
La Guardia - $95
JFK - $105
Newark - $119
Prime Time Airport Shuttle has 9 and 10 passenger shuttles that leave directly from JFK and LaGuardia airports every 30-35 minutes. These are shared shuttles. $46 each way, up to 6 on one CC $33. Children 14 and under cost $15. Click here for online reservations.
Click here for printable driving directions to the hotel.
There is a shopping center next door to the hotel with a grocery store, Michael's, and other handy merchants. Across the street is a copy shop and IHOP. Downtown, with antique and other shops and restaurants, is nearby. The hotel shuttle offers complimentary transportation to these nearby businesses with advance notice.
Packing hints
Table gifts are welcome, but not expected. These are generally small gifts attendees give to the other people at their table, generally on Saturday night, although some people are very generous and give them at every meal function. In most cases, there are 10 people to a table.
What to pack and shipping services
Dress comfortably. Friday and Saturday night meals are semi-formal to formal, other meals and functions are nice casual. You will most likely want a coat and warm clothes for our offsite events.
Please be sure to bring a picture ID. Not only will you need it if you’re flying to convention, but some offsite events require one,
The workshops you register for may require you to bring some supplies; however, when traveling to convention, you should not pack pliers, wire, or shears of any size in carry-on bags. Items such as these need to be packed away in checked luggage and they still might be removed—especially wire and pliers together. There is a Target and a Michael's very close to the convention hotel (Michael’s is within walking distance and the hotel van can take you other places in town).
Bring a BIG suitcase. Seasoned convention goers often pack what they need in a smallish suitcase and then pack that into a larger suitcase, so they will have a large empty one to pack up with goodies they’ll take home. We are working with UPS or FedEx to set up onsite shipping for those who want to ship packages. There is a Kinkos across the street and a Staples in the shopping center next door.